Namecheap Reviews of 2021
Disclosure: Your support helps keep the site running! We earn a referral fee for some of the services we recommend on this page. Learn more
Our Verdict: Outstanding Choice for 2-Factor Authentication
Namecheap is a hosting provider that offers a wide variety of web hosting options. They also offer free domain name registration, WhoisGuard for keeping your personal information private, and a robust customer support knowledge base.
Over 75 of our users have reviewed Namecheap, and they’ve given this provider an average score of 4.5 out of 5. They especially like Namecheap’s commitment to securing personal data.
Below, we’ll review everything else you need to know about this provider. You can also use any of our Namecheap links on this page to save up to 70% on your hosting plan.
Namecheap Overview
Namecheap was founded in 2001 by Richard Kirkendall, the company’s current CEO. As you may have been able to tell from the name, they started as a domain registration provider, but they now offer many other services as well.
The company is based in Phoenix, Arizona, where a team of more than 1,000 employees provides their customers with low-cost domain registration, hosting, SSL certificates, and more.
Namecheap is also a strong supporter of net neutrality and has donated more than $300,000 to the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Fight for the Future, two non-profits dedicated to defending civil liberties in the digital world.
Pros and Cons of Namecheap
Before we go into more detail, let’s review the main advantages and disadvantages to using Namecheap:
Pros:
- Wide range of inexpensive plans
- 2-factor authentication
- Managed WordPress plans
Cons:
- Below-average uptime and response time
- No Cloudflare on shared plans
- No free SSL certificates on shared plans
Namecheap Hosting Plans
Whether you are looking for a cheap way to host your personal website or want to start a white label hosting company, Namecheap has a plan for you.
Let’s take a look at all the hosting plans they have to offer:
Shared Hosting Plans
When it comes to shared hosting, which involves a number of sites sharing one server, Namecheap has several options to choose from.
They offer three plans, starting at $1.58 per month.
The Stellar plan is their most affordable option. It offers 20 GB of disk space, unmetered bandwidth, access to Namecheap’s website builder, and the choice of either a US or UK datacenter (you’ll need to pay $1 more per month for a UK datacenter).
The Stellar Plus plan, touted as their most popular option, offers unlimited disk space and websites.
Stellar Business is advertised as the top option for e-commerce sites, and this plan offers 50 GB of disk space. Namecheap’s servers are also PCI-compliant, so you won’t need to worry about that.
Namecheap is a great choice if you need to host a basic one-pager or simple personal site.
But if you want to use Stellar Business for e-commerce, you’ll need to purchase an SSL certificate, as this is not included with the plan.
WordPress Hosting Plans
Namecheap offers three hosting plans for WordPress, starting at under $4 per month. I really like the way they break down these plans based on site traffic. For the less tech-savvy, this provides an easy-to-understand reference point.
These WordPress plans also offer:
One-click backups
SSL certificates
Pre-installed WordPress
Reseller Hosting Plans
Looking to host dozens of websites or even start your own hosting company? Namecheap offers three reseller packages, starting at $19.88 per month. The cost of the plans vary based on the number of reseller accounts and disk space.
All reseller plans include:
Reseller control panel
Security features
WHMCS billing platform
SSL reseller program
White label marketing tools
Dell PowerEdge with 24-core Xeon CPUs
32+ GB RAM and RAID 10 hard drives
Unmetered bandwidth
14-day money-back guarantee
VPS
When people outgrow shared hosting, they normally move up to a virtual private server (VPS). Although these are not physical devices, they do provide you with a dedicated amount of resources.
Namecheap’s VPS plans start at $9.88 per month for 2 CPU cores, 2 GB of RAM, and 40 GB storage.
Dedicated Hosting
For the absolute best performance and security, you’ll need to use your own dedicated physical server.
Namecheap offers three different dedicated hosting plans, starting at $48.88 per month. Their base plan includes:
CPU: 4 Cores @ 3.4 GHz
- RAM: 8 GB
Hard Drive: 480 GB SSD
All dedicated servers use US-based datacenters.
Psst: Looking for a great hosting deal?
You can currently save up to 70% on Namecheap hosting. Use this exclusive discount link to get the best deal.
Namecheap Features
Now, let’s review all the key features that Namecheap has to offer:
Control Panel
With the exception of their WordPress plans, Namecheap hosting plans use cPanel, which is the industry standard for control panels.
If you’ve used another host before, there’s a good chance you are already familiar with cPanel.
The features of cPanel on Namecheap include:
Easy to use graphical interface
File management
Email set-up and usage
Database management
Backup access
Softaculous application manager.
SSL Certificates
SSL certificates are used to ensure that all your data is kept secure. You will want an SSL certificate for most websites, and they’re all but necessary for e-commerce sites.
Many other providers include SSL certificates for free with their hosting services, but Namecheap does not do this with most of their plans. However, Namecheap does offer over a dozen optional SSL add-ons.
Their entry-level SSL plan starts at $8.88 per year, which is quite affordable.
CDN
As with SSL certificates, Namecheap is unlike many other hosts in that they do not include the Cloudflare content delivery network with their hosting plans.
But you can still sign up for Cloudflare separately and then integrate it with your Namecheap account. Namecheap even has a document that will walk you through this process.
Datacenters
Namecheap has a datacenter located in the US (Phoenix) and a datacenter in the UK (Nottingham). When you purchase a shared hosting plan, you can choose which datacenter you want to use.
Namecheap has datacenters in the US and UK. You can choose which one your sites are hosted on.
There is no indication of what kind of security the servers have, such as guards, backup power, etc.
Backups
Namecheap backs up data on their servers every three to seven days for server restoration purposes only. This is pretty standard for budget hosting plans.
You can use the Backup/Restore feature in cPanel to locally back up your site content. If you lose your data, Namecheap will attempt to recover data for free on most plans.
Security
One of Namecheap’s best features is TOTP 2FA (time-based one-time password algorithm two-factor authentication), a free service designed to keep personal data secure by verifying your identity through a second device.
Website Builder
Namecheap’s site builder is available on all shared hosting plans. It can be accessed through the website builder option in cPanel.
The site builder is a simple template-based, drag-and-drop builder. There are nearly 200 templates to choose from. The templates are pretty basic, but they are also clean and modern-looking.
The site builder features include:
Drag-and-drop interface, so no coding knowledge is required
Plugins for social media, accepting payments, adding video, and more
Available in 45 different languages
Mobile-responsive
E-commerce capable
Overall, for a free site builder, it’s pretty solid. But if you’re looking to build more than a four to five-page site, you should probably look for a more advanced option.
Performance
The price is right and the features are solid, but how does Namecheap look when it comes to uptime and speed?
Here is their uptime data for a site we tested on their servers:
| Month | Uptime |
|---|---|
| Feb 2018 | 99.92% |
| Mar 2018 | 99.85% |
| Apr 2018 | 100.00% |
| May 2018 | 100.00% |
| Jun 2018 | 100.00% |
| Jul 2018 | 99.93% |
| Aug 2018 | 99.96% |
| Sep 2018 | 99.98% |
| Oct 2018 | 99.90% |
| Nov 2018 | 99.71% |
| Dec 2018 | 99.89% |
| Jan 2019 | 99.93% |
| Average | 99.92% |
And here is the page load data:
| Month | Response Time |
|---|---|
| Feb 2018 | 927 ms |
| Mar 2018 | 928 ms |
| Apr 2018 | 955 ms |
| May 2018 | 948 ms |
| Jun 2018 | 804 ms |
| Jul 2018 | 416 ms |
| Aug 2018 | 407 ms |
| Sep 2018 | 403 ms |
| Oct 2018 | 377 ms |
| Nov 2018 | 451 ms |
| Dec 2018 | 465 ms |
| Jan 2019 | 415 ms |
| Average | 625 ms |
Hosting Uptime
Namecheap guarantees 99.9% uptime for most hosting packages, which is the standard in the industry.
99.9% uptime might sound good, but it also means your site could be down for up to 8 hours per year (43 minutes per month).
Over the last year, our Namecheap test site was up 99.92% of the time. And some of those outages were long — up to an hour at a time.
They do offer one full day of hosting for each hour of downtime past 0.1%, but that small refund won’t mean much if downtime has cost you customers.
Hosting Speed
While the server specs look solid, most reviews say that Namecheap’s speed leaves much to be desired.
My results were mixed. The overall load time was 625 ms, which is slightly below-average. But there were actually two distinct periods of performance seen in this test.
The early data indicates an average response time of 912 ms — horrible. But something changed near the mid-point of the year. After that, the load time was consistently under 500 ms, with an average of 419 ms.
That’s not bad at all, especially for an inexpensive host.
Customer Service & Knowledge Base
Namecheap offers support through tickets, live chat, and a support center. There does not appear to be any type of support by phone, which could be an issue if you need help fast.
I tested their live chat and got a response in just under two minutes, which is pretty good.
But the responses were slow and scripted. It felt like I was chatting with a poorly designed chatbot.
Their knowledge base is quite robust, and the search function helped me find articles related to just about any topic I could think of.
Other Hosts to Consider
Not sure that Namecheap is the right hosting provider for you? SiteGround, InMotion Hosting, and Bluehost are also worth looking into. Here’s an overview of their cheapest shared plans:
| Namecheap | SiteGround | InMotion | Bluehost | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Storage | 20 GB | 10 GB | 50 GB | 50 GB |
| Transfer | Unmetered | 10,000 Visits | Unmetered | Unmetered |
| Websites | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Price (per month) | $1.58 | $6.99 | $5.99 | $2.95 |
SiteGround
SiteGround offers many useful features, including a free CDN, site builder, SSL certificates, and additional security options. But while their plans are quite affordable, they’re significantly more expensive than Namecheap.
InMotion Hosting
InMotion Hosting also offers a variety of high-end features, including free domains, free backups, unlimited disk space, free website transfers, and a free site builder. Their plans start at $5.99 per month, so this provider is still quite affordable.
Bluehost
Pinching pennies? Bluehost is super affordable and yet still offers tons of features, including a free SSL certificate, free domain, and much more. Plans start at $2.95, and for $5.45, you can host an unlimited number of websites.
Most Popular NameCheap Alternatives
Starts at:
$1
per month
(Billed as $2.88 Per Month) ⓘPrices in are approximate, based on current exchange rates. The host will likely charge you in USD, or at a different exchange rate.
Usual price: – Get % off!
Starts at:
$2.99
per month
(Billed as $2.88 Per Month) ⓘPrices in are approximate, based on current exchange rates. The host will likely charge you in USD, or at a different exchange rate.
Usual price: – Get % off!
Starts at:
$1.99
per month
(Billed as $2.88 Per Month) ⓘPrices in are approximate, based on current exchange rates. The host will likely charge you in USD, or at a different exchange rate.
Usual price: – Get % off!
Looking for a great hosting deal?
You can currently save up to 70% on Namecheap hosting. Use this exclusive discount link to sign up today.
Namecheap Review Conclusion
If you don’t have particularly demanding hosting needs, Namecheap is a good, inexpensive option.
But if you do need premium service, then you should probably look elsewhere. I’ve found that their speed, uptime, and customer service are below industry standards.
For a few dollars more, you can get much better hosting from one of their competitors. But if price is your biggest priority, head over to Namecheap and check them out.
Edited by Frank Moraes.
About Danielle Antosz
Danielle is a writer and editor who specializes in digital marketing, online businesses, and tech. She spends her days writing and her nights planning her next trip.Connect with Danielle
Namecheap Frequently Asked Questions
- Does Namecheap provide a dedicated email service?
Customers who don’t need a complete hosting package can choose an email hosting plan that includes disk space for email and file storage as well as anti-spam protection.
- What type of money-back guarantee does Namecheap provide?
Namecheap offers a 30-day money-back guarantee for shared and WordPress hosting plans. They offer a 14-day money-back guarantee for reseller and VPS plans. There is no money-back guarantee for dedicated servers. The refund does not include additional fees for items such as software licenses for cPanel or WHM.
- What type of payment options does Namecheap accept?
Customers have a number of payment methods to choose from, including major credit cards, PayPal, Bitcoin, and Dowolla.
- Are Namecheap’s unmetered plans unlimited?
Namecheap offers a number of plans that have unmetered bandwidth. Your website can have all the resources it needs as long as it does not affect the overall server performance or exceed the number of processes allowed.
- What programming languages does the company support?
Namecheap supports a number of programming languages, including Perl, PHP, MySQL, and Ruby on Rails. This allows customers to create feature-rich and dynamic websites.
- Does Namecheap provide help when transferring an existing site or domain?
Yes, Namecheap’s technical staff will assist customers in transferring existing websites and domains from another host regardless of whether or not they had cPanel.
In addition to help from Namecheap’s support team, articles are also available to walk customers through this process.
- Am I able to set up multiple websites with a single account?
Yes, it is possible for you to host multiple websites under a single account.
- Does Namecheap provide tools that make it easier for me to set up websites?
To help beginners create websites, Namecheap provides the Softaculous one-click installation tool for installing popular scripts such as WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal.
Customers can set up simple blogs, static pages, or even shopping carts within minutes.
- Are additional security services offered by Namecheap?
Though Namecheap does not offer any specialized security options such as DDoS protection, they feature an internal firewall and “in-house” security to protect customer websites.
- Does Namecheap support video streaming?
For shared hosting plans, the company does not allow video streaming because it could impact server resources. The company recommends using either a VPS or dedicated server plan for video streaming.
- What is WhoisGuard with Namecheap?
WhoisGuard hides your personal details from public Whois records. If someone looks up your domain using Whois, Namecheap will show placeholder details instead. WhoisGuard helps to prevent spam emails, direct mail, and identity theft.
NameCheap Reviews by Our Community
Overall Rating from 78 Reviews by NameCheap Customers
| Support | |
|---|---|
| Quality | |
| Features | |
| Value |
Most Helpful Reviews
vana Verouti lifestyleandberries.com
Nov 11, 2018
Megan Riffey hateyourway.org
Aug 10, 2018
I signed up on August 3rd, 2018 after my current hosting company doubled their prices. Within 3 days, my site was down (experiencing 503 errors or taking 60-90 seconds to load a test file with only the word, "Test" in it) approximately 3-4 times. I chatted with their support and their support stated that it was an issue on my end, despite using two separate IP addresses and two complete different providers to attempt to view my website.
I ran through their technical support which included providing them my IP address to verify if my IP address listed as suspicious one. After this failed, they had me visit kproxy.com to see if my site would load. Unfortunately, this did not success and generated an error to try again.
Their support then had me trace/ping the server to verify it was not an issue with my network. Once I pinged the server, it ended up timing out on their server response. I tried a speed test on my site as well, and timed-out.
After all this, they stated that there was no issue on their end; that it must have been on mine and to try later. I continued to push back in regards to two different IP addresses (my phone on Verizon Network and my computer) would both display the same issue. I requested that they disable the Mod_Security triggers, and sure enough, once they did this, they stated, "the issue has been caused by a spike of load".
They proceeded to fix it, but it happened 3 more times after this. After the 3rd time, I contacted their chat support again and provided them the previous chat reference number. I had asked to be moved to another server because of the issues we were encountering on this specific server, but they stated that they were showing no issues again and were unable to move me. Needless to say, I ended up cancelling my package with them.
Bob Wallace polyglotinc.blogspot.com
Apr 25, 2018
The only support mechanism is chat (i.e. no phone), and they will never escalate things to a manager even tho no progress is being made. I was on chat for hour and a half before they simply left, and then on a followup chat for another hour where I was transferred to a new person at least 8 times, and each new person had to start all over.
And all this this for a simple service that they volunteered that they could do! Not something exotic that I was demanding!
Very good and detailed review for Namecheap hosting. I use Namecheap for many years either to pursues my domain names, either to host blogs. If you want a cheap domain name or a cheap but pretty good webhosting service you are in the right place.
Namecheap is a perfect webhosting provider for small blogs and websites. Thanks for this article 🙂
Great job whoishostingthis.com ! Vana Verouti
lifestyleandberries.com